COOL heating up?

As if the industry didn't have enough on its plate comes word of the introduction of S. 404 on Jan. 26, a bill to amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to require the implementation of country of origin labeling requirements by September 30, 2007. Of course, that is a year earlier than it is scheduled to take effect under current law. The fresh produce industry - or perhaps its Congressional allies - have been slow to put forward a promised voluntary version of COOL that would repeal the mandatory law.

Here is a link to the bill. The chief sponsor is Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo.. and it already boasts eight co-sponsors.

Ain't no stopping them now

Mexican avocados are headed to California as of Feb. 1, and this article in a San Diego newspaper marks the occasion.

The piece notes the respect won by Mexican growers from their California counterparts, and also observes that marketers of Mexican hass have not come into the market with reckless abandon. They have their sights on growing demand.

On that note, I got an email recently from Washington attorney Dale McNiel, who had been representing some Mexican avocado handlers challenging the Hass promotion order.
McNiel said Jan. 23:

Today the District Court Judge, Louis Oberdorfer, who inherited the Hass avocado promotion program case from Gladys Kessler upon her retirement, granted final judgment for the government. Seven importers of Hass avocados had challenged the program on First Amendment constitutional grounds in 2002 on the basis of a Supreme Court decision against the constitutionality of the mushroom promotion program. In 2005, the Supreme Court switched its views and upheld the beef promotion program on the basis that beef advertising was "government speech" and immune from challenge. The Supreme Court had left open a narrow possibility of unconstitutional compelled speech if the advertising were attributed to objecting persons by the public. The plaintiffs in the Hass avocado cases had offered an internet survey, designed by a leading market survey firm and conducted by the leading online survey company, that showed around 40% of the public who saw a program advertisement thought that it was attributable to importers and specifically the seven companies which were plaintiffs. However, the judge concluded that the survey was not reliable and trustworthy evidence of attribution to justify finding the law unconstitutional. I think his opinion was rather poorly reasoned, but he has the final say on matters of evidence. The law allows the importers 60 days to file an appeal. The grounds for appeal would be that the legal theory requires establishing that the public attributes program ads to the objecting plaintiffs and that we should have won because we presented such evidence. By discrediting our evidence, the judge made the legal theory impossible of proof.




I talked with McNiel today, and he didn't rule out an appeal. At the same time, the legal challenges are significant and he acknowledged that the Jan. 23 ruling could well be the "last gasp" for this issue.


Given that Mexican hass will now have access to all 50 states for the first time ever, there appears to be no reason for Mexican growers, exporters and U.S. importers not to fully take part in demand building generic promotions.

An endorsement of sorts

This just slid through the inbox

FMI President and CEO Tim Hammonds today issued the following statement regarding the United Fresh Produce Association's announcement on its decision to advocate science-based, produce safety standards, along with federal oversight.
"In the aftermath of recent produce-related foodborne illness outbreaks, the entire industry has come together to find ways to improve the safety of fresh produce, to further protect public health and to maintain consumer confidence in produce as the foundation for healthy diets for all Americans."
"FMI applauds the United Fresh Produce Association for taking a leadership role in developing guiding principles that will ultimately lead to federal food safety policies to improve fresh produce safety. This regulatory framework provides the foundation which, when coupled with industry best practices and a rigorous verification program, will strengthen the safety of our food supply."


Again, upcoming FDA hearings on produce safety will serve as the opportunity to see who advocates what regulations for whom. For now, it is useful that FMI is supporting United's advocacy of science based produce safety standards.

Johanns to unveil Farm Bill proposals

Picking sites in Mississippi, Iowa, California and Tennessee, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns will brief American agriculture on the Administration's pending farm bill proposals. The first event is set for Jan. 31 in the Cotton Country of Tunica, Miss.,, followed by a Corn Belt town meeting later that day in Des Moines, Ia., and then a Feb. 1 gathering in the fruit belt in Modesto, Calif.

We can at least feel encouraged he didn't leave out California from his agenda. Perhaps the industry will like what it will hears from Johanns this week.